Ncuti Gatwa says ‘Sex Education’ role healed “a lot of internalised hate”

Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa has spoken about how his role in the show “undid a lot of the internalised hate [he] had”.

The Rwandan-Scottish actor, who plays gay teenager Eric Effiong in the coming-of-age Netflix series, reflected on how the character had impacted his life during a recent interview with Elle.

• READ MORE: Sex Education season three review: too many characters, too little time

“I’ve experienced racism my whole life, and while I always believed in myself, always knew [racists] were stupid and uneducated, I guess it did misinform my view of how the world works,” he continued.

“It makes you think everyone has that opinion and you’ll constantly have to fight through life – then you learn that you don’t: you can find a tribe, you can find your people.”

Gatwa also thanked Sex Education creator Laurie Nunn for “giving nuance” to his “gay, Black character and gifting him to the world”.

The actor went on to describe Eric as “so fierce and unashamed”, adding: “It was healing for me, and great for people to see themselves represented. It taught me the importance of representation: it’s so powerful and necessary.”

Over the summer, Gatwa revealed that producers on Sex Education once spoke to him about ad-libbing lines of dialogue, saying they didn’t feel “like white people [would] understand” them.

“And I was like, ‘It’s not for white people to understand’,” he said.

Sex Education‘s fourth and final season is due to arrive on Netflix on September 21 – check out the official trailer here.

Nunn explained the decision to bring the hit comedy-drama to an end in a letter to fans in July.

“We wanted to make a show that would answer some of the questions we all used to have about love, sex, friendship, and our bodies,” she wrote. “Something that would have helped our inner teenagers feel a little less alone.

“It’s been overwhelming seeing how the show has connected with people around the world, and we hope it’s made some of you feel a little less alone too.”

Gatwa, meanwhile, is due to make his debut appearance as the 15th Doctor in BBC One’s Doctor Who this November. He also featured in Greta Gerwig’s new Barbie film as one of the Kens.

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